


Athena

by yuffiehighwind



Series: An Eternity in Cheese Country [24]
Category: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Dual Identity, Gen, Milwaukee, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-01-01
Updated: 2000-01-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 06:23:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4908724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuffiehighwind/pseuds/yuffiehighwind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Discord meets another old face in the city.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Athena

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the 'fic series "An Eternity in Cheese Country," and here's why - after they were killed by Callisto and Xena, the souls of Strife, Discord, and Deimos were reincarnated in the late 20th century into three humans named Steve, Veronica, and Dave.
> 
> Originally composed 2000; revised 2015.

Discord walked out of the karaoke bar and onto the sidewalk. She pulled on her coat and took a left to head for the apartment. There was a homeless woman they called the Bag Lady beside the door, as usual. By now, Discord was accustomed to her paranoid rants, so when the woman opened her mouth to speak, Discord just shoved by her saying, "Yeah, yeah, whatever." But the woman shouted something different this time, and it stopped the former goddess in her tracks.

_"You!"_

The way she said it sent shivers down Discord’s spine.

"Y-you…it’s...It really _is_ you. I’d know that face anywhere. You’re…you’re…"

Discord turned around. "What are you rambling about _now_ you old coot?" she snapped.

The woman arose from her grungy bed of discarded coats and approached Discord, pointing a grimy finger in her face.

" _Just. Like. That."_

Discord considered grabbing and breaking the woman's finger, but the Bag Lady let her arm drop before she could do so.

"Of course you know me," Discord said. "I come here every Thursday." It was embarrassing, but true. 

The Bag Lady wrung her hands anxiously.

"It can’t be. I heard…I felt the earth rumble and heard the ravens cry in anguish. They cried so much, the creatures of the night."

She took a great wheezing breath and raised her hands above their heads. Discord sneered.

"You’re fuckin’ nuts."

"I saw you. I saw your corpse lying in the sand. Your head severed."

Discord’s eyes widened and she reached a hand up to her throat.

_Oh, no, no..._

"There was a mistake. They grinned at me, but I didn’t care, you see. But the ravens, they cried."

Discord couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. She tried not to show it, though.

_No one else knew about this. No one can._

"It’s you, I’d know you anywhere. I was there when you were born. I told them to just feed you to the Hydra, but she wouldn’t let me. Your mother loved you so much, in the beginning."

Discord tried to back away, but she couldn’t move.

"She named you Eris."

Discord opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. The Bag Lady lost focus and plopped back down on her bed to study a passing cockroach.

_She knows my name!_

"Dark goddess of discord," the woman murmured. 

_She knows what I am. What I was!_

"How do you know who I am?" Discord asked. "Who told you?"

Still gazing at the bug, the woman replied, "I thought up that name. I wrote it in the blood. The Council, they…" She trailed off, then smiled wistfully. "Your brother was such a beautiful boy, such a beautiful boy. He sacrificed everything. Us, for her. Such a beautiful, _stupid_ boy."

Discord leaped forward and grabbed the Bag Lady by the shoulders. She shook the woman hard, and grimy strands of hair fell into her dazed face. Her woolen hat fell off and Discord had a clear view of the poor woman’s features. She looked up into Discord’s eyes. They stared at each other for several seconds, but it felt like forever.

"Sister?" Discord choked.

Athena blinked.

Discord knelt down and hugged the woman. She hugged back for a moment, then fiercely shoved Discord away.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my house?"

She rose to her feet, enraged. 

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" she bellowed. "DON’T TOUCH ME!"

Discord slowly backed away from the screaming woman, then turned to run. She bolted down the sidewalk as fast as her feet could take her.


End file.
